So, how did it go?

[TehMightyEngineer]

So, now that another 16 hour structural exam is out of the way, how do you feel? (Please remember not to post exam questions, NCEES watches and all that!)

Personally, I think it went okay. I only took lateral (passed vertical last year) but overall it was pretty much what I expected. I did however find a dimensional error on the afternoon questions. Anyone have a guess what NCEES does in this case? It definitely caused me to loose some time as I started to work the problem using the neoconservative dimensions and then had to go back around and revise my answer.

 

[steve1997]

I took Lateral as well and also passed the Vertical last spring. This is my second time taking Lateral and I feel that it was tough. The morning was not to bad and I worked through that pretty well, but the afternoon hurt. I prepared more for this test than I have for any test in the past and felt discouraged when I left. This test is tough and I suppose there is a reason that the pass rate is always in the 30 percentile!

 

[Agostage]

Took lateral (2nd try). AM was by far my best from any previous. I could have walked out almost an hour early. There were just a lot of nuance seismic that I knew without looking it up. I guess that's the point of the process. The PM was difficult but not impossible. They definitely make you interpret and use your judgment versus giving you obvious paths. I feel like I performed much better than last time, let's hope I'm not delusional.

 

[NJ1]

1. I took lateral first time (passed vertical earlier). Did better than expected in AM. Did less than expected in PM (knew everything but ran out of time).

Question for the 2nd time takers - usually what is the percentage required for passing? I found information on passing rate (% of people passed), but not on % required to pass?

 

[dussbucs]

1. I took lateral first time (passed vertical earlier). Did better than expected in AM. Did less than expected in PM (knew everything but ran out of time).
   
2. Question for the 2nd time takers - usually what is the percentage required for passing? I found information on passing rate (% of people passed), but not on % required to pass?
   

I took Lateral (Bridges) for the 4th time this past weekend. The AM multiple choice has been burning me. But I think I may have done the best on the AM out of all my attempts this time around. I'm a bit worried about the PM Footings problem they threw our way this time. Really was not expecting it.

As for the % to pass, that has always been a big mystery. Purely speculating here, but I believe you need to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 28 to 30 correct to pass the AM portion. No clue about the PM and whether or not you need Acceptable on all problems or some combination of Acceptable and Improvement Required/Unacceptable.

My previous 3 results have been:

April 2012: 22/40 AM; Acceptable on both 1-hour problems; Improvement Required on 2-hour problem

April 2013: 18/40 AM; Acceptable on all 3 problems

October 2013: 20/40 AM; Acceptable on all 3 problems

 

[WSU_Coug]

Took gravity and lateral (buildings) for the first time (Seattle, WA)... wow. I can see why this exam has the reputation it does!

I studied probably a total of around 140 hours, and the one area I can say I should have studied more was masonry design. There were a few masonry problems on the exam that were unfamiliar to me and threw me for a loop.

I'm worried about the vertical exam. I had one problem in the afternoon that saved for last, came back to it with 45 mins left, and burned about 20 mins trying to derive something that it turns out was on the next page! I kind of froze after that and tried to write out my thought process but I'm sure I won't get an "acceptable" on that one. The other 3 I felt fairly confident about. Morning I'm guessing I probably have around 30/40 due to some guesses on problems that I saved for the end and ran out of time.

I felt better about the lateral exam, but I just fear the stupid mistakes I make when I try to rush through problems. Right after the test I was sitting in my car thinking over the problems and realized at least a few things I should have done differently...

Oh well. I guess now we get to wait for a few months!

I can honestly say the preparation for this test has made me much more well versed as an engineer, and also showed me the areas I need to work on.

Now I get my weekends / evening back to spend with the fam again instead of studying - and hopefully don't have to go through that painstaking process again!

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Yes to all of these!

burned about 20 mins trying to derive something that it turns out was on the next page!

I can honestly say the preparation for this test has made me much more well versed as an engineer, and also showed me the areas I need to work on.
Now I get my weekends / evening back to spend with the fam again instead of studying - and hopefully don't have to go through that painstaking process again!

 

[NJ1]

Dussbucs,

Thanks for sharing the information. This is really useful.

Do you need to achieve an acceptable on all three (Bridge) questions? Or the afternoon is graded as one exam?

Now I am even more worried.........

I agree, I was not expecting the foundation question as well.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Everything I've read shows that it's a combination of the two scores from morning and afternoon. How they're combined is anyone's guess.

 

[dussbucs]

Exactly. I've tried doing all sorts of crazy voodoo, like printing out the AM diagonostic reports and dropping a ruler on the bar charts to gauge how many you need in each "knowledge area" to get past that magical "average of passing examinees" vertical line. That's how I come up with the 28 +/- 2??? questions correct to pass the AM. Puts you right around the 70% to 75% mark.

As for the PM, I'll make another speculation here: Since the problems are likely weighted equally (i.e., 25% for each on Buildings PM, 25% / 25% / 50% for the Bridges PM), I'll guess you need to get "Acceptable" on at least 75% of the PM problems. So for Bridges PM, that may mean you need to nail down that 2-hour problem for sure. But who knows, seriously. And if you somehow ace the AM (40/40), maybe that will compensate for a lower performance in the PM essays...

Has anyone recently passed the SE in Texas?

I believe they give actual scores on the PE exam for those who pass. I know in Pennsylvania where I used to live, they do not give any information if you pass.

 

[cajone5]

Exactly. I've tried doing all sorts of crazy voodoo, like printing out the AM diagonostic reports and dropping a ruler on the bar charts to gauge how many you need in each "knowledge area" to get past that magical "average of passing examinees" vertical line. That's how I come up with the 28 +/- 2??? questions correct to pass the AM. Puts you right around the 70% to 75% mark.

As for the PM, I'll make another speculation here: Since the problems are likely weighted equally (i.e., 25% for each on Buildings PM, 25% / 25% / 50% for the Bridges PM), I'll guess you need to get "Acceptable" on at least 75% of the PM problems. So for Bridges PM, that may mean you need to nail down that 2-hour problem for sure. But who knows, seriously. And if you somehow ace the AM (40/40), maybe that will compensate for a lower performance in the PM essays...

Has anyone recently passed the SE in Texas?

I believe they give actual scores on the PE exam for those who pass. I know in Pennsylvania where I used to live, they do not give any information if you pass.

I passed the PE and SE in TX. They gave a grade on the PE (92% or something) when I passed. The SE just said "Acceptable" or something like that.

Also originally from PA (Shillington)

 

[dussbucs]

Nice. Congrats on passing both the PE and SE!

I'm Eastern PA myself. A-town.

 

[cajone5]

Nice. Congrats on passing both the PE and SE!

I'm Eastern PA myself. A-town.

Thanks!

Also very cool -- I went to Lehigh for my BS and MS

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Exactly. I've tried doing all sorts of crazy voodoo, like printing out the AM diagonostic reports and dropping a ruler on the bar charts to gauge how many you need in each "knowledge area" to get past that magical "average of passing examinees" vertical line. That's how I come up with the 28 +/- 2??? questions correct to pass the AM. Puts you right around the 70% to 75% mark.

As for the PM, I'll make another speculation here: Since the problems are likely weighted equally (i.e., 25% for each on Buildings PM, 25% / 25% / 50% for the Bridges PM), I'll guess you need to get "Acceptable" on at least 75% of the PM problems. So for Bridges PM, that may mean you need to nail down that 2-hour problem for sure. But who knows, seriously. And if you somehow ace the AM (40/40), maybe that will compensate for a lower performance in the PM essays...

Has anyone recently passed the SE in Texas?

I believe they give actual scores on the PE exam for those who pass. I know in Pennsylvania where I used to live, they do not give any information if you pass.

I passed the PE and SE in TX. They gave a grade on the PE (92% or something) when I passed. The SE just said "Acceptable" or something like that.

Also originally from PA (Shillington)

Great info, thanks.

 

[dussbucs]

Nice. Congrats on passing both the PE and SE!

I'm Eastern PA myself. A-town.

Thanks!

Also very cool -- I went to Lehigh for my BS and MS

No kidding! Lehigh BS '03 & MS '05

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

It's a small world, huh?

 

[cajone5]

No kidding! Lehigh BS '03 & MS '05

Nice. BSCE 07 and MSSE 09

So I expect with your background you'll pass this time with no issues

But about the TX SE... I wonder what is going on because we are always well below the NCEES averages for passing rates...

http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us/exam_passfail.htm

http://ncees.org/exams/se-exam/

This tells me that either we are graded harder or we're just dumber/less prepared. Either way it's disappointing to think about. Looking back at pass rates in TX, less than 60 people have passed the exams since they were offered 3 years ago (58 have passed lateral to date). It's crazy.

 

[CRNewsom]

But about the TX SE... I wonder what is going on because we are always well below the NCEES averages for passing rates...

I suspect that it has something to do with the nature of Texas. The state is very large, so it is likely that most of the work done is within the state (see Connecticut for comparison). The majority of the state has no major earthquake, rain, snow, or wind loading. This leaves a fairly large hole in both the vertical and lateral experience for someone to try to fill.

With time and preparation, I am sure that you will do well. Even if it you didn't make the cut this time.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

But about the TX SE... I wonder what is going on because we are always well below the NCEES averages for passing rates...

I suspect that it has something to do with the nature of Texas. The state is very large, so it is likely that most of the work done is within the state (see Connecticut for comparison). The majority of the state has no major earthquake, rain, snow, or wind loading. This leaves a fairly large hole in both the vertical and lateral experience for someone to try to fill.

With time and preparation, I am sure that you will do well. Even if it you didn't make the cut this time.

That makes sense. In Maine we see plenty of wind and snow loads but never rain or seismic controlling (excepting weird low structures with high occupancy categories). I've definitely had a lot of catching up to do in regards to seismic design.

 

[usayoung]

it seems i am the only one concerning about the vertical exam result. I took the bridge vertical only. i was able to complete #1. then i realized i spent more than 1.5 hours to finish #1, so I skipped #2, and moved onto #3 but i could only finish about 70% but not all the #3. I think i solved about 26 quetions in the morning, and i had to guess the remaining questions. Do i have some hope? Please..